This invention relates to a poker game, and more particularly to a new and improved stud poker game which is played in multiple stages, with a changing wildcard, changing winning hands, and different payout odd at each of the stages, all of which simultaneously increases the competition for more serious players while decreasing the complexity for casual players seeking primarily entertainment.
With the ever-increasing number of casinos and commercial gaming facilities, more people have started gambling. The people who gamble at casinos are generally of two types. One type of gambler is the serious, intentional individual who plays the game primarily for competitive, compensatory, excitement and even professional reasons. The other type of gambler is casually seeking primarily entertainment as a result of participating in the game and being in a high-activity environment of a casino. Serious gamblers expect the game to offer a competitive challenge and payout opportunity. More challenging games with higher payout opportunities generally involve relatively higher levels of complexity and, therefore, require more mental concentration and knowledge of the game. The casual player seeking entertainment usually does not wish to commit a high level of concentration and mental activity to the game.
It is important for casinos and other professional gaming facilities to offer games that are attractive to the serious, intentional player as well as the casual player. The casino provides the games environment and the entertainment solely for commercial purposes. The gaming environment and some entertainment is usually offered at no cost. The income to a casino is derived from the odds which favor the casino or house in each of the gambling games. The odds for many gambling games are often fixed by law, business practice or convention, so the income derived by a casino is directly related to the number of players which the casino attracts, and the ability of the casino to maintain patron involvement in actual gambling. In order to maximize the profit generated, it is desirable to attract a large number of players and to keep the players gambling for an extended period of time. A casino is most likely to make a profit from a player who plays a single game longer because it is unlikely that such a player will be able to beat the house odds over an extended period of play.
Casinos have attempted to attract players and keep them involved in gaming by offering the extra or added incentive of a relatively non-complex auxiliary or sideline game which is played simultaneously with the more complex primary gambling game, but which does not interfere with the play of the primary game. The pace and complexity of the auxiliary game is much slower and more entertaining than the pace of the primary game. The more serious player need not participate in the auxiliary game. The auxiliary game offers its own set of separate payouts which are more of entertainment value compared to the more significant monetary payouts and risks from the primary game. For example, many auxiliary games may award bonus points as payouts. Once a player has collected a predetermined number of bonus points, the player is awarded a prize or gift. In this manner, the auxiliary or sideline game offers entertainment opportunities, which serious players may forego, but the disadvantage of the auxiliary or sideline game is that the player must also participate in the more demanding, complex and risky primary game.
Poker games have also been devised to break up a single round of play into different events which move toward completion of the single round of play. For example, a first number of cards are dealt to a player. The number of cards initially dealt in this first event are less than all of the cards required to complete the round of play. After receiving the initial cards, the player has the option of continuing play or withdrawing. Withdrawing allows the player to reclaim some but not all of the initial wager. There is no opportunity to win after the first event, because the winner is determined by completing the entire round. Therefore, the player has no possibility of winning anything unless the player wins the entire first round. Moreover, this type of game is simply a division of a typical poker game which requires all of the concentration and effort as would be required for playing a conventional poker game. Another type of poker game allows the player to buy xe2x80x9cinsurancexe2x80x9d at the beginning of each round of play. Buying insurance provides the player with an opportunity to win some type of compensation even if the player loses the round of play. Again, any rewards to a player who does not win the round of play are not based on the enjoyment and activity of the play itself, but are based on random events not involving the play of the game. It is again necessary to continue the entire round of play in order to obtain the possibility of payout from winning the round of play or an award as compensation for buying the insurance. These types of games do nothing to simplify the game itself or to increase the enjoyment to the casual player.
These and other considerations have been instrumental in giving rise to the present invention.
The present invention offers a single poker game and a single method of playing the game which have the effect of increasing the complexity and opportunities for serious, intentional competitive players who gamble more for reasons of competition and excitement, while simultaneously decreasing the amount of concentration and effort required from casual players seeking entertainment. The present invention divides the poker game into multiple stages, and offers gambling opportunities, payouts and entertainment value at each stage of a single round of the game. The multiple stages contribute interest, complexity and competition for each round which appeals to serious player, but the play within each of the stages is simplified sufficiently so that the casual player enjoys the game equally well. The result is increased interest, intrigue, challenge, complexity and entertainment value of a single poker game, which has the benefit of attracting more players of all types and keeping the players engaged in the play of the game for a longer time. The added interest of an auxiliary or sideline incentive game is also inherently obtained by the multiple stages of each round of the game, because each player retains a meaningful opportunity for a payout at each stage of a round of the game. The present invention also provides a casino or commercial gaming facility with the opportunity of extending the house odds and level of play within the context of a single, supervised and odds-controlled game, without using its facilities for an auxiliary or sideline game of little or no commercial value.
These and other aspects of the invention are obtained by a method of playing a round of a poker game using at least one deck of cards having different suits of cards within the deck and having different rankings of cards within each suit. Each round of the game is divided into a plurality of stages, and a wager is placed at each stage of the round. A hand of cards is dealt to each player at each stage, and part of the hand of cards dealt to each player in each subsequent stage is formed by the cards dealt to that player in each previous stage. A different wildcard is designated for each stage. Each player is determined to have a winning hand of cards at each stage by comparing the hand of cards including any wildcards held by each player to a schedule of winning card combinations applicable to that stage. Each winner is paid at each stage according to an odds schedule applicable to each hand of winning card combinations at each stage. At least some of the winning card combinations and at least some of the odds of the odds schedule for each winning card combination are changed at each stage.
The changing wildcards and odds at each stage of the round and the variation in winning hand card combinations at each stage appeal to serious, intentional, competitive players. On the other hand, the relative simplicity of determining the winning card combinations at each stage by using the schedule of winning card combinations and the wildcards at each stage decrease concentration and effort required from those casual players who play the game more for entertainment. The multiple stages of the game create interest, possibilities and entertainment for all players and make an auxiliary or sideline incentive game unnecessary. The multiple stages and odds at each stage extend the house odds and level of play within the context of a single, supervised and odds-controlled game, while increasing the commercial utilization of the facilities of the casino or gaming facility.
Other preferable aspects of the method of playing the game include designating as the wildcard, a card having a numerical ranking equal to the number of cards forming the hand of cards at each stage of each round. Preferably an odds schedule of greater than 1 to 1 for at least one of the winning hand card combinations is established at each stage.
Variations of playing the game include dealing at least one of the cards of each hand face-down and turning all cards face-up before dealing additional cards in a new hand in a subsequent stage. Each player may be required to ante an additional wager after dealing the cards at each stage face-down as a requirement for continued play within that stage and within the round. The additional wager anted by each player at each round are awarded to the player having the highest-ranking winning hand among all the players playing in that round, while each individual player at each stage is still paid according to his or her winning hand of card combinations according to the odds schedule. Other variations include dealing a community card during each stage which is part of all of the player""s hands of cards for that stage, and dealing a hand of cards to a dealer at each stage. The dealer""s hand of cards is required to achieve a predetermined minimal card combination value in order to continue play of the round beyond that stage, and each player is awarded a payment equal to the initial wager of the player if the dealer""s hand of cards fails to achieve the minimal value.
The game is preferably played on a tabletop configuration comprising a card play portion for each player into which the player""s hand of cards is dealt, a wagering portion including a wager enclosure for each stage of the round and within which each player places the wager for that stage of the round, and a payout portion containing a schedule of the winning hand card combinations and the payout odds for each winning hand card combination at that stage of the round. Preferably, the wager enclosure for each stage of the round is located adjacent to the indication of each wildcard for each stage of the round.
A more complete appreciation of the present invention and its scope may be obtained from the accompanying drawings, which are briefly summarized below, from the following detailed descriptions of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and from the appended claims.